Site Mobile Navigation

DODD INTRODUCES MAJOR‐MEDICALPLAN

TRENTON, May 27 (UPI)—Frank J. Dodd, Essex Democrat who is president of the State Senate today proposed a statefinanced health plan to protect the public against financial ruin from major medical expenses.

Senator Dodd introduced leg. islation to establish a New Jersey plan that would have the state pick up the cost of expensive medical treatments for anyone who buys coverage under the program. Someone without health insurance could get state financing after he paid the first $5,000 in medical bills.

The Senator said his program was not a health‐care plan but rather a means of easing the financial hardships of the victims of “catastrophic illnesses.” He said he modeled his bill after a similar program that took effect this year in Rhode Island.

Under the program, the state would take over medical expenses after the expenses had reached a certain level. For example, a family with an income of $10,000 could buy one of three levels of health coverage. At the first level the family would pay $1,000, or 10 per cent cent of its income, and the state would pick up the rest of the medical bills. The state would step in at the $2,500 level under the second plan and at $5,000 under the third.

We are continually improving the quality of our text archives. Please send feedback, error reports,
and suggestions to archive_feedback@nytimes.com.

A version of this archives appears in print on May 28, 1975, on Page 87 of the New York edition with the headline: DODD INTRODUCES MAJOR‐MEDICALPLAN. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe